I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud -William Wordsworth

Analyzing theme: Nature has healing power for loneliness.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

   That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

   A host, of golden daffodils,

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

   And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

   Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;

A poet could not but be gay,

   In such a jocund company;

I gazed – and gazed – but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

   In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

   Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

                In William Wordsworth’s ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, the author describes his thoughts as if writing a journal for himself. Thoughout the poem, he emphasizes the great healing power of the nature, and how it affected himself. The first line of the first stanza indicates his extreme loneliness, for a cloud moves like a snail, not knowing where to go. This lonely sentiment suddenly shatters apart when the author discovers a host of beautiful daffodils that grabbed his attention. The first personification of the daffodils on the last line of the first stanza shows how he is taking the newly discovered daffodils, which is more delicately defined in the latter part of the poem, telling the audience that these flowers became his mates who let him forget his solitude.

After the stunning discovery, the author is getting more and more mesmorized by the brightness and everlastingness of the daffodils. By the third line of the second stanza, all he can see in his eyes is a bunch of daffodils, and he finds these flowers so beautiful that they seem to be ‘stars twinkling in the milky way’ and reach the number of ‘ten thousand at a glance.’ Again, the author personifies the daffodils, describing them as ‘tossing their heads in sprightly dance.’

On the third stanza, the author continues to be impressed and is enjoying the cheerful, swaying daffodils, from which he cannot take his eyes off of. On the next, final stanza, he finally recognizes that his loneliness is recovered by these beautiful daffodils, with his heart filled with the most superb happiness.

It is not explicitly stated in the poem, but it seems like the author had had an epiphany that he needed nobody around whenever he was lonely; he needed nature beside him. A lot of people finds joy and calmness from nature and enjoy it, while others prefer city life as they are more accustomed to it. I personally agree with William as nature is not only more quiet and calm, but it is also more likely to go with the flow, while in cities, everyone endeavors to flow backwards.

Are people defined by what they do?

   My strong determination on practicing my plan used to last three days. Should I be defined by what I thought of, or what I actually did? Although it is common sense that people are defined by what they do, majority of people are often blinded by their sweet words. However, looking back to previous world top leaders, we should rather define people by how they act.

   Anyone can talk after a short practice, pretending they are prestigious leaders who care a lot for the good of his citizens. On the other hand, the world has never got in touch with a leader who practiced all his words into reality. In other words, while words can be all lies, actions never lie. This is exactly why Presidents, no matter what country they govern, often get cruel slash by his citizens few months after inauguration. Before the inauguration, since Obama was able to do nothing on any main issue, he gushed out all kinds of words that could possibly satisfy the citizens. Now, he failed to satisfy Americans with his actions, and finally Americans are evaluating their leader in a correct way: they are defining a person with what he does.

   Words and thoughts do not bear unforgetful results, while actions do. Material consequences are created when an individual acts in a certain way. For instance, Benjamin Franklin did many activities that other people are all willing to do, but merely give up, for they are so tiresome. He came to be known as clean, white leader, who is more diligent than anyone else. As a result, many citizens started to admire and wanted to go after his path. His hardworks had payed off, and just like him, people create results that comes after their actions.

   Not many great public speakers who spit out touching words are greatly admired by majority. Instead, real action-takers like Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks capture the mind of people. This is one of the reasons why people are more likely to be defined by what they do. Gandhi was not a mere talker; he weaved his own clothes with his own spinning wheel. He also wore simple white cloth, not covering his body properly. He did not fight against England with weapons. This actions not only touched citizens’ mind but also England leaders’. Rosa Parks was similar; She quietly demonstrated against white by sitting on white-only seats on the buses.

   To sum up, people are defined by what they do since anyone can talk sweet words, actions can bear consequences and lastly, people are more touched by people’s actions.

A Funny Doctor

I am so disappointed, my body. You should have done better. After getting a flu shot last week, I caught a cold. Since when was I so weak, not even being able to fight off small amounts of flu virus? I was about to stop breathing because of that flu virus when I visited near-by hospital to request some help. I went to that hospital about 10 times before this, so I almost made friends with the doctor. This made me very comfortable to be in a hospital but at the same time very embarrassing at the thought that I got sick too much. I hated to be seen as a ‘weak person who comes to the hospital so often’. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even look at me, for he knows how old am I, or what kind of things are going on that constantly makes me sick. He just glanced at me for a second and suddenly pressed a point right in the middle of my neck. I almost screamed at the surprise and extreme pain of that. He then grumbled some mysterious words to himself, and sat down again in his seat. Pulling out a huge, blue book that looked like the one I would never read with my own will, he mumbled,

“This is the hidden secret of my business sales.”

“What?!”

“I’m telling you the extractions of my 10 year study”

Oh my god, he is trying to make a lecture when I had so much homeworks at home. I wanted to say ‘no thank you’ and come back home, I just couldn’t do it when I saw the serious look on his face.

Then he started to explain how the body works. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but roughly, he told me several tips about relieving stress and relaxing my tense muscles by stretching. On the page he opened, there were three simple sketches of human head and neck, which were probably drawn to let the reader understand the following things: The nerves of shoulders are on the middle of your neck. When you shrink forward when you are studying, not only your shoulders will hurt but also your neck, which leads to hardening of your brain and pains on your eyes. Wow! I finally found out why these places hurt at the same time! For the first time, I admired my doctor, and said thank you several times. This pretty long time was perfectly worth it. Now that he told me why I always felt something heavy on my head and shoulders and told me exactly what to do, I was free of all kinds of pain. I wish all the doctors in the world would always be like this one. Yay! Thank you again, sir.

Why South Korea has to instigate Jasmine Revolution in North Korea

My Debate Arguments!!

      According to wikipedia, an original jasmine revolution refers to the December-January mass uprising in Tunisia that overthrew president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 15. The revolution was named Jamine Revolution by the media in keeping with the geopolitical nomenclature of ‘colour revolutions’. The movement grew over the issues of unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech and poor living conditions and overflowed into Egypt where it has been raging. Also in China, 2011, another Jamine Revolution broke out inspired by Tunisian revolution. By these sources, our group concluded that a jasmine revolution is a revolution in which citizens ask their government for democratic society through the usage of various media, social networking sites and others.
     Before moving on to real discussions, it is especially important to note some common background information on current North Korean society. Formally called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, people here now suffer from human right violations, suppressions of freedom on just about everything, structural violence, hereditary power succession, and so forth. Kim Jung Il, the current dictator, succeeded North Korean founder Kim Il Sung in 1994 after his death, making the first father-to-son succession of power in a communist state. Kim Jung Eun has succeeded his position and now ruling the country.
     We have 3 ways to do this, but the North Korean government is not capable of doing reformation right now. Other countries cannot intervene here because of the violation of sovereignty, and the current situation does not let them to.
     This house believes that South Koreans should actively participate and instigate jasmine revolution on North Korea for the good of both North and South Korea plus the world. There are 3 main reasons for this, and the first is because South Korea is most knowledgeable about North Korea and its society among the countries around the world, the second is because of economic and security related repercussions and lastly, because North Koreans desperately need OUR help.

1. North and South Koreas have been together for 5000 years, a long long history we now show off, and it’s been only 50 years since North and South were separated from each other. We now typically think North and South Koreas are too different from each other and are impossible to get them back together. People believe they now are totally different countries that they have no special relation that distinguishes them from other countries. However, as our long history proves, North Korea’s closest friend in South Korea, although Kim family don’t permit us to be. As we’re most knowledgeable when it comes to North Korean society and ideolgy inherent inside them, it should be us who are helping them in order to lead the revolution most efficiently as possible.
Moreover, South Korea has experienced a lot of struggles to free themselves from dictatorship from 1948, when 이승만 first started to rule until 1993, when 노태우 ended its period and gave up his position. People united and struggled for freedom with their own wills and skills, which were extraordinary. Since we’re the ‘experienced talents, and although the current situation is slightly different from that time period, our help would surely be great aids for them.

2. North Koreans are not aware of democratic ideology at all. Therefore, we must help these peeple. Besides, although North Korean citizens do think about this, they do not know how to, and plus they’re not very organized, the population and ideology spreaded. According to Chosun Ilbo, North Koreans have already instigated several protests against the government but the scale of the protests were small and sporadic. Thus, we must meddle in here and structurize these, letting them know how to do this.

3. Other than North Korea’s benefit, the instigation of Jasmine Revolution is for the security of South Korea and the world, along with the economic benefit for South. The initial reason we try to instigate Jamine Revolution in North Korea is to make citizens struggle and ultimately free themselves from cruel dictatorship of Kim family. If this succeeds, the unity of North and South would be much closer to our hands, and will probably be united, although it WILL take some time. By then, South and the rest of the world wouldn’t have to fear from North Korea’s threats that it has nuclear weapon and will drop it wherever they don’t like. Other than that, considering that North Korea has made a lot of threats towards both South Korea and US, we will definitely be free from these. In addition to this, North Korea owns tons of crude materials underground, along with profound amount of sea resources, only that North does not have enough level of technology to drag them up on the ground and actually use them. When united, we will be able to get access to those valuable resources and this would enhance the economy of both North and South Korea considerably.

Outline for term paper - Mr. Ganse's AP European History Class

I. Introduction

II. Definition

   II.1. Paper money and Banknote

ü  The definition of banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money. Today, banknotes and paper money refer to the same thing, with the national bank guaranteeing its value. However, when they first appeared, private institutions were guaranteeing the value of banknotes, thus it was quite a different term from paper money.

   II.2. Economic Bubble

ü  A “bubble” in the world of finance is a term applied to an unusually rapid increase in stock prices or the value of some other asset such as real estate.

III. Before the emergence of paper money

ü  Currency that was widely accepted before paper money was of course, coins, usually made up of gold and silver. It was commonly accepted fact that money has to have its real value that equals to its representative value, which is why people chose gold and silver as materials for money, one of the scarcest materials.

IV. Emergence of paper money (Revolution)

ü  What I would like to point out here is that emergence of paper money is not all about changes in materials that comprise money. Emergence of paper money is about its loss of intrinsic value, which allowed mints to print money infinitely. This brought great changes in the use of money and financing by governments and other monetary institutions, thus it can be called revolution.

   IV.1. Initial motive of paper money

ü  First of all, transporting gold and silver, especially in large amounts is very dangerous and costs a lot. The use of paper money greatly reduced the risk. Also, wars that broke out required great amount of money, which was not present in state coffers. As a way to finance wars and standing armies, governments printed paper money, and in the case of England, the government printed money to finance the War of Spanish Succession.

   IV.2. Sweden

ü  In Europe, the first paper money was first issued in 1660 and introduced in Sweden in 1661 by Stockholms Banco, a predecessor of the Bank of Sweden. Since Sweden was rich in copper, it had such low value that extraordinarily huge coins, which often weighed several kilgrams, had to be made. For such reason, Stockholms Banco printed banknotes that look like the first figure.

   IV.3. England

ü 

   IV.4. France

ü  In the early 18^th century France, it was facing huge economic crisis, when it purchased Louisiana. A Scottish economist John Law was appointed Controller General of Finances of France under King Louis XV as a purpose of saving the falling economy, so he was in control of all economic activities of France. John Law then encouraged French government to set up Bank Generale that could issue paper money. At the time, he simply thought that these banknotes could revive French economy, since paper money will lead to active money circulation thus leading to active commerce. This Bank Generale was taken from John Law to French government and was renamed ‘Bank Royale’. Instead, he established a trading company, ‘Company of West’, and later it got bigger and was renamed to ‘Mississippi Company’ which had exclusive trading privileges in France. As the rights of the company got stronger and stronger, number of investors bursted as the value of shares bursted as well.

V. Financial Scandals (Revolution)

ü  Financial scandals such as economic bubbles were inevitable if paper money emerged. Because paper money increased the money supply, it increased inflationary pressures, a fact observed by David Hume in the 18th century. The result is that paper money would often lead to an inflationary bubble, which could collapse if people began demanding hard money, causing the demand for paper notes to fall to zero.

   V.1. Sweden

ü  In Sweden, simply put, the Stockholms Banco ran out of coins to redeem its notes in 1664.

   V.2. England (South Sea Bubble)

ü 

   V.3. France (Mississppi Bubble)

ü  The shares value of Mississippi Company was skyrocketing but John Law had missed something. He kept issuing paper money in order to buy his own company’s shares. In fear, investors started to sell stocks and get gold coins from January 1720, and the stock price suddenly dropped. This rise and fall of the company is overall called Mississippi Bubble.

VI. Interrupted use of paper money (Reaction)

ü  After suffering from such financial scandals, public began to distrust paper money and halted its usage for quite a long period of time. Instead, countries used gold and silver again.

   VI.1. Sweden

ü  In Sweden, the Stockholms Banco, where paper money used to be minted, ceased operating in 1664. In 1668, four years later, new bank was established but it was not permitted to issue banknotes until the 18^th century.

   VI.2. England

   VI.3. France

ü  Upon hearing the news of the total collapse of Mississippi, shares Marais, a highly regarded nobleman, state: "Thus ends the system of paper money, which has enriched a thousand beggars and impoverished a hundred thousand honest men"

ü  In other words, the Mississippi Bubble had lasting effects, creating a distrust of stock companies as well as banks and paper money

VII. Establishment of National (Central) Banks (Reform)

   VII.1. Riksens Ständers Bank (Sweden)

ü  On September 17, 1668, Palmstruch's privilege to operate a bank was transferred to the Riksens Ständers Bank, operated by the parliament. Due to the failure of Stockholms Banco, this new bank was not permitted to issue banknotes until the 18th century. The Riksens Ständers Bank was later renamed Sveriges Riksbank and remains the central bank of Sweden to this day.

   VII.2. Bank of England (England)

   VII.3. Caisse d'Escompte (France)

ü  After the Mississippi Bubble, Paris became France's center of international banking and stock trades, and the Caisse d'Escompte, which is the central bank, was founded in 1776. Here, paper money was re-introduced, denominated in livres.